Former Wurld VP Saxton found guilty

Richard Saxton, the former vice president of Internet start-up company Wurld Media in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., was found guilty Wednesday by a Saratoga County jury of one felony count of falsifying business records and two misdemeanors.

The two misdemeanors include criminal contempt and failure to pay benefits.

Sleight called the guilty verdict “inconsistent” because Saxton was acquitted on all of the tax-related charges, yet convicted on a charge connected to those tax charges.

“There are some significant issues on appeal,” he said.

Saxton and Kerber were indicted last November on multiple counts alleging they failed to properly pay payroll taxes and benefits to employees at Wurld Media.

Kerber, 45, pleaded guilty in June to felony falsifying business records. He received probation.

He faces a new charge of grand larceny after he allegedly stole $30,000 from the company to hire a lawyer to defend him on the initial charges, according to Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III.

Murphy will recommend that Saxton receive four years in prison, the maximum allowable sentence on the felony charge.

The three-week trial “revealed things that were far worse than we expected,” Murphy said. “The recommendation will be based on Saxton’s “intentional and fraudulent conduct, and the number of employees and investors who were deeply affected.”

The charge of falsifying business records stemmed from the method by which Saxton paid his employees, Murphy said. He entered employee wages as loans, which allowed him to avoid paying 401(k) benefits and payroll taxes.

The criminal contempt charge was filed after Saxton failed to obey an order by state Supreme Court Judge Stephen Ferradino that prohibited him from dissipating the company. Saxton ignored the order when he sold the company’s assets, paid himself $27,000 and paid off debt, Murphy said.

Wurld Media, which created a peer-to-peer network for users to buy music online, sold its assets to ROO Group of New York last year for $4.3 million. It was founded in 1999 by Kerber and his cousin, Kirk Feathers.

Saxton is free on bail until his January sentencing. He was required to surrender his passport.